The Alford Plea refers to to the moment when Henry Alford accepted a plea agreement in his capital murder case by stating,”I pleaded guilty on second-degree murder because they said there is too much evidence, but I ain’t shot no man… I just pleaded guilty because they said if I didn’t, they would gas me for it.” (see Alford v. N.Carolina,1971, discussed in your eText. Another Alford Plea was in the headlines more recently: “Deal Frees ‘West Memphis Three’ in Arkansas.” Read about this gruesome, long-running case in Required Resources (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/us/20arkansas.html?_r=1) Discuss how the Alford Plea ultimately resolved the 3 men’s case, and why the defendants and the prosecution were each willing to accept it. Then discuss, more philosophically, whether a system of justice should accept a plea that states, in essence, “You may have evidence to convict me, but I am innocent.”